Speed or distance?

Week 1 - Day 1
30mins easy running.
The roads around where I live are a bit hilly. I decided I'm just going to use these rather than looking for flat routes as it should benefit me later on. Since I usually run as-fast-as-possible-without-blowing-up it was a change to just run easy.

Week 1 - Day 2
20 minutes tempo
"Tempo" is still a slightly woolly concept for me. Looking at a few youtube videos and it seems that there isn't a universally accepted definition either. I'm going with "comfortably hard" and about 80% of max effort. My usual parkrun flat-out-without-blowing-up has my HR going at 178 BPM. This effort had it at 161 BPM which I think seems perhaps right.

Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - 8K Easy pace 5.43 128m Elevation
Wednesday - 20min intervals 10x30sec - Tough
Thursday - 55K cycle
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - parkrun 5K - shaved another 14 seconds off my parkrun PB
Sunday - 65K cycle (Was going to follow with a 4 mile run later in the day but got totally frozen in the morning cycle so figured I'd enough done )

So only about 20K running done this week but figure the 120K cycling is worth 12K of running and something's gotta give if I fit both in.

I'm considering switching the 10 mile training plan I'm currently doing for a Hal Higdon intermediate half marathon plan as my current plan doesn't really have long runs and I'd like to add that in.

Tuesday - Was travelling all day so no time to run
Wednesday - 7K easy run - took it nice and handy - averaged 5.22 min/km and average HR of 145bpm
Thursday - 40min tempo run - pretty sure I didn't do this right - average pace of 5.11 min/km with average HR of 145 bpm. Meant to start easy and gradually accelerate. It was a bit difficult to judge as the route I took had a hill at the mid point. Also I was running at night on rural roads for the first time so sometimes pulled in when a car appeared. Still I felt good at the end and ploughed on when I probably should have been easing off - 8K in total
Friday - 5K easy. Took this one very easy - average 5.50 min/km with average HR of 135bpm on a somewhat hilly route
Saturday - parkrun day - ran my local parkrun which I hadn't run in 3 weeks and knocked 42 seconds off my PB bringing it down to 21.53 - average 4.30 min/km with average HR of 165 Very happy to see the results of the training paying off.
Unfortunately I have noticed very slight knee pain at rest. No pain when running though so I'm going to ease back a little on training this week to see if that helps
Sunday - Rest
Monday - should be a 10K run but going to skip it in light of knee pain

So 25km in total since last Tuesday. Not as much as last week but perhaps I increased mileage a bit too much last week. Overall very happy with how things are going. Would be happier without the knee twinge but hopefully that won't get worse. Times and fitness are going in the right direction and endurance has definitely improved.

skyblue46 wrote: »

Well done on the improvements made so far. I will just repeat what Singer said earlier about slowing down the easy runs. Most people would have ~2 mins per mile/ 1:20 per km between their tempo pace and their easy/slow run days. Keep the really easy days really easy and it will make it more manageable for you to increase the distances you run.

I'm probably doing my maths wrong. I reckon my tempo pace is about 4.50 min/km (comfortably fast) which is 12.4kph so my slow run pace should therefore be 11.2kph which corresponds to 5.22 min/km which seems a bit fast for a slow run. I've gone wrong somewhere here, right?

skyblue46 wrote: »

Yep I think you have. Try this training paces calculator as a starting point. http://www.runfastcoach.com/calc2/

Enter your 5k PB and see what paces it gives you. The easy and very easy will seem very slow but are well worth getting used to.

Out of curiosity what are you basing your calculations for easy pace on?

Great, thanks. I find I have to concentrate to keep it slow. If I start daydreaming I drift into a rhythm that's faster than I intend especially as my training routes are hilly and therefore undulating. I'll try harder to keep the slow runs slower.

This week went somewhat awry in terms of the training plan.
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - 5K @5.02min/km HR 152 (I should have been doing 7.3K at an easy pace but I wanted to suss out a different parkrun route)
Thursday - 5K @4.28min/km HR 155 (Should have been doing a 40min tempo but wanted to see how fast I could run this route)
Friday - Rest day with about an hour of cycling
Saturday - Parkrun 4.8K @4.29min/km HR 159 - knocked 15 seconds off previous PB
Sunday - Too wet and miserable to venture out
Monday - 16.4K @5.15min/km - Started slow but decided to run to rhythm/feel. Pushed on then after 5 miles and took advantage of some downhills to push hard for home. Probably could have done another few miles if I wanted to so quite happy with the endurance and didn't feel wrecked at the end.

Total distance this week - 31.5K
However I'm pretty happy with where I'm at and still have another 4 weeks of training before the Cobh 10 miler and the sub 20 5K by end of year is starting to look less like a pipe dream and more like something that might actually be achieved.

Mostly back on track this week with more emphasis on keeping the slow runs slow.

Tuesday 19th
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 3.22 mi || 33:08 || 10:17 min/mi || 58 m || 128 bpm ||
+90 min cross-training cycling
Short recovery run after the previous day's 10 mile run. Kept the pace slow. All good and nothing to report.

Wednesday 20th
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 5.18 mi || 52:00 || 10:03 min/mi || 95 m || 132 bpm ||
Another slow run concentrating on keeping the pace slow. All good.

Thursday 21st
Rest day.

Friday 22nd
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 4.97 mi || 45:05 || 9:04 min/mi || 99 m || 139 bpm ||
This was meant to be a 45min tempo run. Plan was to split it into 3 sections - 15 slow with 15 min faster and a final slow 15 minutes. It didn't go to plan. First 15 mins were slow but a bit hilly and about half way through the fast section the body and brain weren't really on board so pretty much abandoned with slow walk/run home. My first "abandoned after starting" session. I'm not gonna dwell on it. Just wasn't really in the mood and hopefully that's it out of my system for a while.

Saturday 23rd
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 3.07 mi || 21:59 || 7:10 min/mi || 23 m || 153 bpm ||
Parkrun day! A spot of parkrun tourism involved as I revisited a parkrun that I've done a few times. Knocked over a minute off my previous PB there so happy out. Normally with parkruns I tend to run the first 2K faster than the rest so tend to get passed out towards the latter half of the course by those who run a more constant pace. This week I got passed but managed to catch and overtake a few who had passed me. I know it's not a race but it's still satisfying.

Sunday 24th
Cross training - 60K cycle

Monday 125th
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 11.02 mi || 1:32:28 || 8:23 min/mi || 242 m || 161 bpm ||
Long run. I'm almost sure I'm running these two fast. Part of the reason for this is trying to convince myself I've enough energy for the 10 mile at race pace so I've been running it closer to race pace than I probably should.

Total distance this week: 27.46 miles.

Upcoming races: 10K - 31st March, 10 mile - 7th April

Ok, not very much running done this week. My plan had me tapering down in advance of my race but, since I overdid it a little (I think), prior to last week's race I thought I'd add in a bit more rest myself and see how it worked out.

Saturday 6th April
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 3.02 mi || 22:24 || 7:26 min/mi || 55 m || 155 bpm ||

Local parkrun. The plan had been to go around at a moderate pace and save the racing for Sunday.And I stuck to this for the most part except for the last km where I tried to catch a couple of overtakers. I caught both but then one then put on his own push for home and I didn't try to keep with him.

Sunday 7th
|| Distance || Time || Pace || Elevation || AVG HR ||
|| 10.05 mi || 1.16:05 || 7:34 min/mi || 162 m || 156 bpm ||

The Sonia O'Sullivan Cobh 10

This was the race I was training for over the last few months. I'd heard so much about the hills on this course that they had formed a fearsome reputation. However they weren't that bad in the end. Not too steep and not too long. And the course had a lot of downhill sections along with one quite long downhill at about the 5.5 mile mark.
It was only at the start line that I really started thinking about how I wanted to run this race. My previous 10 mile PB had been 78 minutes and I figured if I could hit that again it would be a reasonably good day out - given that the course is not flat. So the plan was to start with the 80 minute pacers and see how it goes.

I felt a little sluggish starting off but even so the 80 min pacers quickly fell behind and I found myself up with the 75 minute pacers. The first mile or so has quite a bit of downhill in it and I found myself passing out the 75 min pacers to keep my rhythm. After one and half miles it flattened out a bit (possibly slightly uphill) and pretty soon I could hear the thunder of feet behind me and sure enough the 75 min pacers re-appeared and glided past. I thought for a second about keeping with them but figured it was far too early to start pushing myself and, in any case, I wanted to keep something back for these hills. The first hill duly arrived and I just took it easy up it and it wasn't too long. Since I knew the first hill was the steepest I wasn't too worried when the second came along a mile or so later. Again it looked a little bit worse than it was although the ambulance had arrived to tend to a runner as I was was cresting that hill. He didn't look too bad and was assuring them he was ok. I presume a sprained ankle or something as he was lying on the ground with a blanket over him awaiting the paramedics.

At this point I was slowly moving up through the field making a bit of progress and somewhere around the 5 and a half mile mark we had a turn left and what seemed like quite a long downhill section. I let gravity take over here and somewhat flew downhill. It was back onto flat ground after the right turn at the bottom with about 3 and a half miles to home. I did feel a bit warm here and ran on the left side of the road which was in shadow and a bit cooler.

It was at about this stage that I felt a bit tired and was going through my head how much was left. Luckily at this point I was passed by a runner who was running strongly with good form but running just slightly faster so I could keep up on their shoulder. I kept there for the next couple of miles until my shoelace came undone . Just as well there was only half a mile left.

I hadn't bothered to look at my watch for a few miles at this point so I was pretty amazed to see the clock showing 1:15.xx as I approached the finish. I knew I wouldn't pass through before it rolled over to 1:16.xx but thought perhaps the chip time correction would leave me in the 1:15.xx band and so it proved.
Very happy to knock nearly 3 minutes off my 10 mile time and not feel half as wrecked as the last time I ran a 10 miler when the last 3 miles had been misery.

Next planned race up is the Cork half marathon which is a while away.

So nine weeks are remaining in the Boards DCM Novices plan and we are into the tough stretch with all the longest long runs.

Monday - Rest Day

Tuesday - 4 mile easy. Took this one a little handier than usual. 10.28min/mile with avg HR of 125. The HR trace looked a bit odd so not sure if I could trust it.

Wednesday - 6m PMP with 1m warm up and 1 m cool down. This worked out too fast for PMP with 8.22min/mile the average pace. HR came in at 151 avg. This was about 20s/mile too fast as I took the early uphill sections too fast.

Thursday - 4m easy. I hadn't plotted out this route in advance accurately so it turned out to be 4.5miles. Pace was too hot as well at 8.59min/mile and HR averaging 137.

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - parkrun + LSR

I had booked the John Buckley Cork City Ten Miler before I knew I couldn't race it. It's too close to the Charleville Half so might be a bit risky in advance of DCM. So I decided to go anyway and have it as part of my LSR.

I stayed up in Cork the night before and booked into a cheap hostel. This backfired when I ended up sharing a room with a guy that snored like a chainsaw being started up. Result - about two and half hours sleep! I won't be staying in any hostels before DCM. And as an aside - what kind of person books shared accommodation when they know they snore so loudly?

I popped along to Glen River parkrun to tick it off the list of parkrun tourist visits. I managed to confuse myself by switching the watch from miles to kms and ran faster than planned - 7.52mile/min with 150 avg HR. Nice, friendly group and a course with a short, sharp hill at one end that's done twice.

The plan for the LSR was to run the 9 miles first and then make it back to the start in time for the 10 miler. Luckily the race registration was open early and they had a section for bag drop off. I met a runner I knew beforehand and got delayed slightly chatting to her. I got changed and noticed I'd acquired blisters on my heels after walking around all day. Nothing for it but to apply some bandages and hope they didn't cause an issue on the run - they didn't.
I dropped off my bag, put on my race number as I didn't know what else to do with it and got going.
I stopped at the petrol station to get water to fill my water bottle and add a zero tab. A few hundred metres up the road it felt like it was raining on my back which was odd so I stopped and my bottle was leaking. I hadn't tightened the top of the bottle properly. I had half thought about maybe carrying that bottle/bag with me at DCM and filling it up as needed. It's too time consuming and not that easy so at least that plan is scrapped.

With the bottle tightened properly off I went - now behind schedule as a result of stopping for water and fixing the leaking so I sped up a little to make up time. The first few miles were handy enough. Coming up to Blackrock I met a walker who informed me that I was most likely in the lead as I was the first runner he saw with a race number. Instead of protecting my lead I maintained my pace. :pac: The initial plan was to go out 4.5 miles and double back to the start line but instead I continued on the Blackrock-Mahon walking path and then back via the old railway line. I reckoned it wouldn't be too far off 9 miles and I could make up the extra with a bit more added on. When I ran this last year I set off too fast (5k pace) and really started to struggle when the walkway met the Mahon footbridge. That long stretch was quite painful but this year it was a lot more comfortable at the easier LSR pace.
Once again I met the walker from earlier who reassured me that I was still in the lead which came as a great relief. :pac:
I arrived back at the start line with about 8.5 miles done and jogged back to the petrol station to get another water bottle. Filling my own water bottle and adding a zero tab is still too messy to do on the run but at least I made sure the top was back on fully this time.
I met a few guys I knew at the start and had a brief chat then I had to decide what pacers to stick with and decided on the 100min pacers and the race kicked off.
We started with a loop around Centre Park road and Monahan road and already I was drifting ahead of the 100min pacers.
I wasn't really feeling great and at about mile 4 (my mile 13) decided to stop and take some water and a gel. I had drifted well ahead of the 100min pacers and decided to wait and join back up with them. It took about 3 minutes for them to reach me and I started running with them again out towards Blackrock castle. I found myself drifting ahead of them again and saw the marker for 5 miles (my 14th mile) and decided to head off. Whether it was the rest stop, the water or the gel, I was full of beans again. The field had broken up into small groups and I jumped from group to group making, what felt like, good progress.
Soon we were back on the old railway line and the thoughts of sambos and cake back at the finish line was driving me on. I was wondering if there would be any left and so the last three miles were the fastest of the set. Chip time was just under 1.32 - a good 14 minutes slower than last year. Then it was back to City Hall for the grub which, luckily and despite the queues, was still there.

Sunday - 2m recovery

Headed out for a short recovery run after watching the match. Took it very handy as feeling a few effects from the day before. Pace 10.32m/mile with HR of 127.

DeepBlue wrote: »

So nine weeks are remaining in the Boards DCM Novices plan

DeepBlue wrote: »

8 weeks remainging on DCM trainng.

Hmm.... nobody noticed I was a week out there. I think I got away with it.

Anyone just 6 weeks remaining until DCM!! :eek:

A mini taper this week ahead of Charleville Half Marathon.

Monday 9/9 - 3m Easy - Actual 3.42m at 10.12/mile AVG HR 123 - Easy, gentle running. Front of the hips just letting me know they are there.
Tuesday 10/9 - Left it too late to go out by which time it was raining and looked miserable and was getting dark. Pushed it out until Wednesday.
Wednesday 11/9 - 4m Easy - Took this very slow keeping HR in 110's and 120's - 11.11 min/mile AVG HR 125
Thursday - Rest Day
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - 2m Easy - Actual Tymon Parkrun 3.16 m, 10.54min/mile, AVG HR 126

Sunday - Charleville Half Marathon - 13.12m, 7.29 min/mile, AVG HR 165

Charleville Race Report

The day started inauspiciously when I woke up after having a sleep cramp on my left leg. This left it feeling tight and painful and I considered cancelling as I wasn't sure if I'd just do more damage if I raced on it. Luckily it loosened out with a bit of activity and felt much better by the time I left the house and I didn't feel it at all during the race.

Got to Charleville with mostly light rain on the route and parked up. Followed a guy in a Mallow AC top who looked like he knew where he was going so made it to the GAA club, picked up the t-shirt and the race clips and dropped off the bag and used the facilities. Followed up this with a light jog and some strides around the pitch along with some dynamic stretches. I'd brought two gels with me but didn't really have something to carry them in so I took one before the start and put the other in my rather large short pocket. Met a few familiar faces and a few chats later headed up to the start line. As the start time approached the start line got more and more packed and very warm as you could feel the heat radiating from the bodies around you. Some genius then decided to drive through the start line. She must have been late for Mass or something.
As is usual for me at these races I never hear the start announcement. Perhaps I'm deaf but since the ones in front of us were moving I guess we were off.

My goal was to break 1.40. I knew if I kept a 7.30 average pace I could do it but hadn't really formulated a plan beyond that. The race started briskly and after a couple of hundred meters I checked the pace and it was 6.40. Oh-oh! I immediately eased off and found myself with the 1.35 pacer group. We passed through the first mile which was slightly downhill - 6:59.
Since I felt comfortable enough with the 1.35 group I decided to stay with them for a while and build a bit of a buffer. My breathing was ok and I wasn't straining myself to stay on so miles 2,3 and 4 with by in 7.12, 7.11, 7,12. At about 4.5 miles I was slightly drifting off the pacer by a few feet and feeling the others in the group breathing down my neck. I took this as my cue to make way and moved off to the other side of the road and watched them incrementally stride away.
Mile 5 and 6 are a slight uphill drag into Kilmallock. It's probably this section of the race where I felt the worst and was making mental bargains with myself to just get to 6.5 mile and that's the half way mark and we're on the way home. I was flagging slightly but pushed myself on thinking I might get a 10K PB. After the six mile mark I stopped briefly to take my my second gel, a caffeine one and some water. I felt this perked me up a bit but looking at the course profile after it was probably as much due to the downhill section starting at 6.5 miles. Miles 5 & 6 -> 7.21, 7.33

The 1.35 pacer who had been visible a few hundred yards and maybe 40 seconds ahead during mile 5 and 6 was now no longer within sight. I fell in step with a female runner in a red top and male runner with a triathlon top. I seemed to gain time on them up the inclines and they would take it back when back on the flat and we kept exchanging places all the way home. At one stage here there was a breeze into my face. The smarter move might have been to take shelter behind someone but I was just glad of the chance to cool down a little. I was still on about 7.22 average pace at this stage and started thinking a 10 mile PB might be on the cards so I pushed away from both of them at about 8.5 miles and pressed on for the 10 mile marker.
Miles 7, 8, 9 and 10 -> 7.49, 7.27, 7.39, 7.29

After 10 miles I thought perhaps that was enough chasing PBs and it was time to settle in and protect the sub 1.40 which, barring disaster, seemed nailed on. While I couldn't do the maths on the fly I felt I could slow to 8 minute miles, concentrate on staying comfortable and I should be able to respond if the 1.40 pacers came storming through. I also switched the watch to just mile laps to take it one mile at a time. I had a mini heart attack somewhere around mile 11 when I heard a lot of noise behind me and thought it was the 1.40 pacer group but it turned out to be the racewalkers with Rob Heffernan on a bike coaching one of his athletes.
Red top girl and triathlon guy had now passed me out but I used them to keep a rhythm going for the last couple of miles finally reached the finish gantry. The clock was clicking over into the 1.38 with my watch saying 1.38:15.
Miles 11, 12 and 13 -> 7.57, 7.45 , 7.53.

After crossing the line my quads were threatening to cramp up. They didn't. Nice feed of grub and a few post race chats. The marshals and all the crew at Charleville did a great job.
I think I was lucky today. It worked our for me today when, on another day, it might have gone badly wrong. I met quite a few for whom the day did not go well by their usual standards. I'm sure just a temporary blip for them.
Onwards now to DCM.

Started a new job this week which has thrown my schedule into chaos. Crazy early starts and long days travelling mean time and opportunity for running has been really squeezed. Sleep, nutrition and hydration have also all taken a hit. What running opportunities are there tend to be when it's dark and I've not really got night time running routes sussed yet.

Monday - 23/9 4m 9.45min/mi AVG HR 138 - Probably the best run of the week albeit still slightly fast. Headed into the park with the headlamp and managed to scare a few deer.

Tuesday - 24/9 - Rest day - (I spent the day dreading the 9mile I was thought I was supposed to do this evening and it turned out it was the following day. What relief. )

Wednesday - 25/9 - 9m 8.27min/mi AVG HR 149 - I was so tempted to skip this. I started off too fast for the first few miles. My stomach didn't feel good and it usually never bothers me. I couldn't wait for it to finish and, for the first time, felt nauseus at the end. Walked the last quarter mile of the cool down mile. Just felt really crap.

Thursday - 26/9 - Rest Day - Unintentional rest day. Arrived back from work way to late to even contemplate fitting in a run.

Friday - 27/9 - 5m 9.09 min/mi AVG HR 141 - This route has elevation at the start and did that bit too quick. The rest was downhill or flat meaning overall the run was too fast.

Saturday - 28/9 - Rest Day - The forecast was for heavy rain pretty much all day. Didn't fancy a second week on the trot soaked to the skin so put off the LSR until Sunday.

Sunday - 30/9 - 18.87m 11.18min/mi AVG HR 131 - Second worst session of this training block (after Wednesday's 11 miles). Mapped out a route that took my fancy and which I wanted to do. Ran the first few miles a bit too fast as it was a narrow road with not so great visibility and fast enough traffic so I wanted to get off it as quick as possible. First five or six miles were ok but aware that they felt a bit harder that normal. Was beginning to flag a bit around mile 10 as the sharp undulations were starting to exact a toll. The body mutinied at about mile 14 where I was coming back to a more familiar section of the course. Usually I find familiar ground easier but it worked against me in this case. The body and mind knew what ramps still lay ahead and had no interest in tackling them. In retrospect when I looked at the elevation I was attempting I agreed with their decision. Hips, feet and quads were all starting to pain and I'm not sure what I'd have gained by pushing on. Anyway it's better to wobble now rather than in 4 weeks time.